All Posts by Andrew Martonik

Company is focused on creating a better product, not playing catch-up with Google
Pebble has really set the scene as the leading smartwatch offering throughout 2013, and now sales numbers help reaffirm that. Since January 2013, Pebble has sold over 400,000 devices, and that barely takes into account the availability of the higher-end Pebble Steel. Based on some rough math that means Pebble has...

'The Best is About to Get Better' in just under 5 days from now
HTC has pretty consistently kept the hype machine rolling for the announcement of the latest in its HTC One lineup, and now we know precisely when and where we'll be able to watch the event go down live. A new page simply titled "The Best is About to Get Better" with a to-the-second countdown timer has appeared on HTC's website,...

Pre-orders begin March 24 both in-store and online
Carriers are starting to spill the beans on the pricing of the Samsung Galaxy S5, and T-Mobile has just released its own pricing information. The Galaxy S5 will run $0 down and $27.50 per month when paired with one of its Simple Choice plans, or if you want to buy outright you'll be spending a full $660. Pre-orders will go live on March 24th (...

Two customizable widgets to fit any homescreen look you're going for
Beautiful Widgets is always improving its app with new user-facing features and back-end fixes, and in its latest release, version 5.6, it's bringing two new widget designs. The widgets are flat, simple and customizable, with two different sizes — 4x2 and 4x1 — that give you variety to match the rest of your...

Not a perfect replacement for a stand-alone camera key, but it could help with the occasional selfie
Motorola has updated several of its apps in the Play Store this week, and the latest to grab a new version number is the Motorola Camera app. The changelog is nice and simple — you can now take pictures on your Motorola phone by hitting the volume key on your phone or attached headset. This is...

Show us the best picture you can take right out of the camera with on edits
If you've spent any time on Instagram you're likely familiar with people using #nofilter to indicate that they didn't edit the picture (whether they're always being truthful is another thing) before posting. In our usual weekly photo contests we encourage editing and filtering because photography can be a creative...

New feature is on by default, but just as easy to turn off as any other setting
The Google Keyboard was updated today with the same changelog as the last version, but one thing that's definitely new about the input method is personalization of suggestions from your Google account. After updating the Google Keyboard, the bar above your keyboard that usually shows predictions will now remind you...

Dozens of fantastic entries were submitted, but we had to pick five that stood out from the rest
We gave you the task of taking photos that followed the prompt of "Light and Shadows" this week, and the entries we received hit the nail on the head across the board. We saw dozens of fantastic entries that filled up five full pages in the forums, and it's unfortunate that we could only pick five...

App will remember your view choice, brings back the notification bar on Droids
When Motorola pulled its Gallery app out into the Play Store, we knew that it would mean frequent updates would be coming. The first big update since its release is today, and it brings fixes for a few different issues and a new feature for viewing your photos. There are two main fixes — the app will now remember if...

Canada, France, Germany and U.K. can now get their hands on the entry-level 2GB RAM model
Availability of the Acer C720 Chromebook from Google Play is expanding outside of the U.S. for the first time since its launch, heading to four new countries as of today. Now Chrombook buyers in the U.K., Canada, France and Germany have a new option for buying the $229 / £199 laptop, building on hit-or-...

Changelog is sparse, with the same small fixes seen on other variants
Following what appears to be a short-lived and successful soak test, the AT&T Moto X is receiving its Android 4.4.2 update starting today. As it usually does, Motorola has posted the changelog for the update on its support pages, indicating that the update is ready to go out to everyone rather than just testers.
The...

Another country sees wide availability of the latest software for Samsung's most popular devices
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S4 from a variety of regions have been receiving the jump to Android 4.4, and now it seems the Canadian carriers have flipped the switch for their devices. Users across Bell, Telus and Rogers have been reporting that their Note 3s and Galaxy S4s are receiving...

Vodafone and Optus both have the update pushing out now
Several different variants of the HTC One have been receiving their Android 4.4 updates in the last few weeks, and now it's Australia's turn. Vodafone's support pages are confirming that the update is rolling out to its devices, while we're receiving tips that HTC Ones on Optus devices are also pulling down KitKat.
The combination of...

20 countries now have access to both of the latest Nexus devices
Along with the expansion of the Chromecast to a handful of new countries and Google Play Music and Movies coming to dozens of new countries, even more people can now also get their hands on the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 directly from Google Play. The latest Nexus phone is now available in Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Sweden, taking...

An interface that scales Google Now down to something usable on your wrist, with endless possibilities driven by developers.
Google has officially unveiled Android Wear, an operating system specifically tailored to wearable devices, and with that comes some new usability and interface challenges. Working with small wristwatch-sized devices and sub-2-inch screens, you quickly run out of room...

Battery life bug tied to camera access in KitKat also fixed
One of the big issues with Skype on mobile devices, battery life, is expected to be improved dramatically today with the latest update to the Android app. According to Skype, after installing version 4.7 of the app you should be able to keep the app running all day "without noticeably affecting battery life." The savings come from a...

Tune in Wednesday, March 19 to watch Jim Wicks talk about the design of the new wearable
Motorola just dropped the bombshell of Moto 360 on us moments ago, and now we'll have a better idea of how it was designed tomorrow with a Hangout on Air hosted by lead designer Jim Wicks. The Hangout will kick off at 11am PT / 2pm ET tomorrow, March 19th, and will focus primarily on the design of Moto 360...

See what the buzz around Android Wear is all about
Google, LG and Motorola have given us plenty to talk about today with the announcement of the Android Wear platform, the G Watch and Moto 360. The one-stop place for all of the talk around Android Wear is already here, and it's in the Android Central forums!
Head into the forums at the link below and get the conversation started — there's...

Truly modern timepiece first, smartwatch second
Building on the announcement by Google of its new wearable device platform, Android Wear, Motorola has announced its first device with the software: Moto 360. Just as we expected based on statements back at MWC, the focus here is primarily on the design, materials and experience of the watch as a piece of jewelry more than just as a...

A fresh, easy-to-use design and universal search coming later this Spring
Sonos is completely refreshing its Controller app for Android with new features and design, and its giving Android users an early look as part of a beta test. The first notable change of this update is a complete design refresh — you'll navigate the app between three different modules to choose between currently playing...